Here Goes Everything
by Hammsters
Summary: My life shouldn't be like this. I wasn't meant for danger or adventure. Yet here I am, on the run with some boy I hardly know and his sister, my only hope for survival. Should I trust them? No, probably not. Do I trust them anyway? Oh yea. Original story!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: My life isn't supposed to be like this. I know a lot of people probably say that when they're complaining about school or their jobs or their families, but I mean it. I wasn't meant for this sort of thing. But here I am, on the run for my life with some kid I hardly know and his sister. They're the only hope I have for surviving this whole thing. Should I put so much trust in them? No, probably not. Am I trusting them anyways? Oh yea.**

I can't quite say how it all started. Was it when that first shot was fired in that abandoned work site? Was it when I first met Andy at a party the week before school started? Or did it go back further than that, when one sloppy mistake landed Ethan Cade in a boat load of trouble? For him, that's when it began, that's for sure. But when did it start for me? When were my chances of not being involved in this mess ruined? I say the party, but it's really very debatable.

I guess I should start from the beginning. My name is Audrey Beckett, I'm seventeen years old, and I was raised in a small town called Elm Springs. I'll tell you right here and now that Elm Springs is the last place you'd expect for any of this to happen. Life was simple there. You're born into a family that loves nothing more than to smother you and show your baby pictures to all your boyfriends, you're best friends with the kids of you parents' best friends who are the kids of their parents' best friends and so on. You grow up in a decent sized house, you fight with your siblings, you feed your vegetables to your dog when your parents aren't watching. Then you hit high school and for once in your life you don't know anybody. You hit that age and you dream to be anywhere but here. And then when you try to leave for college you want nothing more to be back in Elm Springs. It's that kind of town where you know half the population by name and the other half by whatever 'group' they belong to, where your teachers know the names of your parents, your siblings, your dog and your dog's best friend's neighbor's cat. Not small enough that you know absolutely everyone, but small enough that no matter where you go in the town you still feel at home. I couldn't appreciate it then, but it's nice now that I think about it.

Just like everyone else, I had my tightnit group of friends that I went nowhere without. Just like every other group of friends in the universe, we thought that high school was the center of the universe and that we were on top of the world and things like that. We were also that group that everyone knows as the partiers. Every good party this town has ever had was put together by one of us. So it should come as no shock when I say I met the beginning of my problems, a mister Andy Carter, at one of these parties. He was new to town, the cousin of kid named Stuart Mills who was staying with them for the year. I'd seen him standing awkwardly in the corner, Stuart having already gone off with his friends, thinking that by bringing Andy in the first place he'd done his duty as the host.

"Hey," I greeted him, trying to make the new kid feel welcome like the good girl I am. He smiled, looking relieved for someone to talk to.

"Hey." Upon taking a good look at him, I was surprised none of my friends have hounded him yet. He's very...um..._nice looking. _Oh who am I kidding, this kid was hot! "I'm Andy Carter." I smiled.

"Audrey Beckett. You're the new kid right? Stuart's cousin?" He nodded. "We've heard a lot about you." He raised an eyebrow.

"So, I'm in a town of stalkers?" He asked jokingly. I laughed.

"No, it's just a small town. Everyone knows about everything that happens within a day. That, and your cousin's been spreading rumors about you." I said, teasing only a little bit in the last part.

"Should've guessed. Kid's never been able to keep that mouth of his shut." He said, grinning a little.

"Well, in his defense, it's probably a struggle to keep it closed. It is a pretty big mouth." He laughed.

"So what have you heard about me?" I thought about it.

"Let's see: you're in the witness protection program, you've got a million dollars stashed away in some secret vault heavily protected by the CIA, and you're an Elvis impersonator on the weekends." I looked at him suspiciously. 'You're kind of missing the sideburns for that last one."

"Don't worry, I've got fake ones." He joked. I laughed. "So, did my cousin happen to say anything about my spectacular wit, strength, and dancing abilities?" He asked.

"Nope." He grinned.

"Good, because he'd be lying about all of it." I laughed again. A few minutes later my friends all came along and we spent most of the night talking to him. Then the next day when Riesa, Caroline, my sister Abby, Dillon, Marty and I all went out to the movies, Andy tagged along. THen the next day when we played baseball, and the next day after that and after that. By the end of the week, most of us had almost forgotten he was the new kid. It felt just as natural hanging out with him as hanging out with the rest of the group. I guess that should've seemed strange, but it didn't, because like I said, he'd just fit in too well for that. Andy was a good guy, that's really all there was to it, his only dimension as far as we knew. He was just that likable guy that every school seems to have, the one who's friends with everyone and makes the jerks a little nicer and can make the emos and goths laugh. That guy everyone likes. It should've seemed strange, but he was too good for that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! People like it! I'm so excited. I forgot to say in the last chapter that I probably won't be able to update very often, but I promise I will every time I get an idea, so I'll try not to keep you guys waiting to long. This is just a fun little chapter leading up to where the action will pick up. So enjoy!**

Riesa was running late. As usual. The teachers had long since stopped caring about her tardiness and just handed her a detention slip as she walked into class everyday, so we were all used to it. The problem this time was that Riesa, Andy and I were all working on a project together, and she'd taken the project home with her the night before. Now, that wouldn't be so much of a problem if we didn't need that project for first period, which we did. So Andy and I were waiting at the front doors to the school, waiting anxiously for her to show up. Well, I was waiting anxiously anyways. Andy was testing out cheesy pick up lines on me, something he'd made into a habit since the party.

"Hey Audrey, have you heard this one? If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together," he said, grinning like he was hoping this would be the one I didn't know. I rolled my eyes.

"Really? If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put F and U together." I replied.

"Darn." He thought for a moment, then replied, "Your comebacks are mean." I stuck my tongue out at him and he did the same, blowing rasberries. We were so very mature. "How about I'd like to call you. What's your number?'" I snorted.

"That one's bad." He began to smile.

"Have you heard it though?" I pretended to think about it.

"'It's in the phone book.' Does that answer your question?"

"I don't know your name though," he said, playing along.

"That's in the phone book too."

"That doesn't work, because I know your name." He pointed out.

"Someone actually using that pick up line wouldn't." I said.

"What if I really am using that pick up line and you just don't know it?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows in that weird way he always did.

"You're a dork." He grinned.

"Grazie." I just rolled my eyes. "So, Audrey, while we're on the subject-" He was cut off by my phone buzzing. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked my messages.

"It's Riesa. She should be here right about-" the doors swung open and Riesa came charging in. "Now."

"Ugh, remind me never to run to school in the rain again!" She exclaimed, squeezing some water from her short strawberry blonde hair. She wiped some of the smeared make up away from the area around her eyes, but unfortunately it didn't help much. She struck a pose. "Feel free to tell me how hot I look!'' We both laughed and she gave us a look. "I'm waiting."

"You're gorgeous, now can we have the project?" Andy said impatiently. I looked at him strangely. He never got impatient. Ever. She nodded.

"Oh yea, right." She rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a diarama, then handed it to Andy.

"Andy, we're going to be a little late to class. Think you can cover for us until we get there?" I asked hopefully. He nodded.

"Yea, no problem." I smiled gratefully and started pulling Riesa down the hall.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"To fix you up," I replied, laughing a bit at the mascara smeared all around her eyes, making her look a bit like an angry raccoon. She grinned sheepishly.

"Yea, that's probably a good idea."

* * *

><p>"All right everybody," Mr. Roland, our drama teacher said, speaking loudly to get our attention. "We're going to be starting Romeo and Juliet, so I want everyone to pair up and I'll assign each group a scene, which you will be performing in front of the class next week." Everyone groaned. "I know, I know, it's the end of the world isn't it?" He said sarcastically. Everyone started pairing up.<p>

"Oh Juliet!" I heard Andy behind me. "Got a partner yet?" He asked.

"Darn. Stuck with you again?" I said teasingly.

"Ah, you know you love me."

"I definitely wouldn't say love."

"You might have to in the scene," he pointed out, smirking a bit. I just rolled my eyes. I guess I kind of did that a lot. Of course, he did give me a lot of reasons to.

"Whatever. Are we going to start working on it?" I asked. He let out an exhaggerated sigh.

"I suppose. _After _I ask you this one itty bitty little question." I gave him a look and crossed my arms. Any of my other friends would have taken this as the universal signal for 'go on,' but he was new, so I cut him some slack.

"Well? Are you going to ask you're itty bitty little question or not?" He grinned.

"Yea. I kind of began to ask you earlier, but then Riesa ran in and we were so caught up with the project that I never really got to. Anyways, I'm kind of rambling now, so I'm just gonna say it. Do you want to go out with me?" My eyes widened a bit. _That was unexpected. _I mean, Riesa, Caroline and Abby sometimes teased me that he liked me- he'd been testing those pick up lines for days- but I'd never thought that he actually did! I was kind of at a loss. He smirked. "Aw, I've got you speechless!" He said teasingly. I glared at him.

"I don't know Andy. We don't really know each other that well." It was his turn to give me a look.

"Aw come on. It won't kill you. Tell you what, we go on one date and if you discover that I'm the scum of the earth and you hate my guts and never want to see me again, I will gladly get out of your way. Just one date." I sighed.

"I suppose." He grinned.

"Great! I'll pick you up at eight and we can see a movie or something." I was caught off guard again.

"Wait, tonight?"

"Yea, if that works for you," he replied.

"It does, it's just kind of out of nowhere." He shrugged.

"Eh, why waste our time?" I thought about it and decided that he made a pretty good point. But for some reason, I couldn't shake this strange feeling that something really bad was going to happen.

**Oooooooooooooooooh ! Epicness. Hope you liked it. If anyone has any guesses on what's going to happen during their date (except mchammer4, who already knows what will happen) please feel free to share in your reviews. Which I'm begging you for! Peace out peeps!**


	3. Chapter 3

"What are you all dressed up for?" My sister Abby asked as I walked down the stairs that night. I looked at her in slight confusion; I wasn't dressed up. I was in jeans and a sweatshirt.

"What are you talking about? I'm not dressed up," I replied. She rolled her eyes.

"I mean, are you going out? Normally you're in your pj's watching old movies nobody's heard of by now." Sadly, she had a point. Our friends could almost never do anything on week nights, so most of the time we stayed in after the afternoon, except for when we had dates or sports awards or something like that.

"I have a date," I said. Abby's face lit up in a grin and she bolted over towards me.

"Ooh, who's the guy? Do I know him? Is he cute?" It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"It's Andy."

"Andy, like, Andy Carter? Our friend Andy?" She asked. I nodded. "I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I told you so!"

"Told me what?" I asked.

"That he likes you! Aw, it's so cute! You and me and Andy and Jackson can go on double dates and stuff! Oh my gosh, we've got both the new kids! Man, the other girls in our school must be so jealous right now!" She squealed. Abby kept rambling about all the fun we could have now that we both had boyfriends, and I didn't have the heart to tell her the two most obvious facts: 1. Andy wasn't my boyfriend and 2. While he wasn't exactly _ugly, _her boyfriend, another new kid named Jackson Gale, wasn't much of a looker either. I don't think our classmates were troubled too terribly when they learned he was taken.

"Speaking of Jackson, didn't you guys have a date tonight?" I asked, just then noticing that she was in her favorite, baggiest sweats that she couldn't go a weak without, yet could also never wear in public. She pouted slightly.

"We had to cancel. Jackson's dad grounded him because he didn't do so great on his last test in Trig," she told me sadly.

"Aw. Well, maybe next week we can all go on one of those double dates you were telling me about." She brightened up quite a bit at that.

"Okay!" I couldn't help but laugh at how easy it was to cheer my sister up. Then the bell rang and I had to run to get it before Abby could fill Andy in on the joys of double dating. I couldn't let the poor kid endure that kind of torture. I could hear Abby close behind me, saying, "Wait! I gotta tell Andy!" so the second I got to the door, I flung it open and rushed him down the stairs.

"Go, go, go!" I hurried him. He gave me a weird look, but did as I said while I slammed the door shut behind us. I saw Abby's face press against the glass and she glared out at me. I just stuck my tongue out at her and turned to Andy. "Sorry about that." He laughed.

"What was that all about?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Abby wants us to double date with her and Jackson. I told her we could just to shut her up, and I'm pretty sure she was coming to tell you the good news. I swear, if you didn't squeal like a little girl, she'd have probably ripped your face off." Andy's eyebrows jerk up. "She's very serious about her double dating. She's been planning for it since we were seven, but we never have boyfriends at the same time. She decided to make you my honorary boyfriend I guess." He laughed again.

"I'm cool with that," he replied. I grinned.

"Easy for you to say. You picked a real winner," I said with a slight smirk.

"You got one too," he pointed out. I quirked an eyebrow and smiled a bit.

"Says the boy who still watches SpongeBob on Saturday mornings."

"Hey! That is quality television!" He defended himself. I laughed and soon enough we'd launched into a debate about which character was better: SpongeBob or Patrick (duh, Patrick!) as we walked towards our town's closest movie theater. As we got into the main part of town, I noticed Andy was acting kind of funny. He kept taking random turns where we didn't need to, looking behind us through his periferal vision, glancing at the reflections in the store windows we passed. I mean, I'd figured out a long time before that Andy was quite fond of his reflection, but this was a little much even for him. It was almost like he thought we were being followed.

"Andy?" He jerked his eyes away from the unlit windows of a pharmacy. "Are you all right? You're acting kind of weird."

"Yea, I'm fine. Dandy." I left it alone after this, but his behavior just kept getting worse and he was soon becoming completely paranoid: randomly turning completely around and changing directions, directing me into random stores saying we had plenty of time before the movie, glancing at the reflective metal on the back of stop sighs, heck, he even checked the reflection on the glass surface of his watch a time or two. He was kind of freaking me out at that point. Then, when he glanced into the window of some deli, his eyes widened in alarm as though his very worst fears and suspicions and just been confirmed. He cursed under his breath. "Um, change of plans Audrey. Why don't we take a little detour?" He steered me around a corner and grabbed my hand, pulling me down the street at a brisk pace.

"Andy, what are you doing? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Huh? OH, um nothing, I just really like this part of town." He replied, sounding like he was only half paying attention to what he was saying. We continued speed walking straight down the road until we were about a mile out of the main part of town. He finally slowed down a bit, but he still kept glancing around like he expected for someone to jump out and yell "boo!" Finally, his behavior stopped being scary and just became annoying. I tugged my hand out of his iron grip and stopped dead in my tracks. Andy stopped. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing Andy? What are you doing! You're not acting like yourself and you're really starting to freak me out! What are we doing here?" I asked.

"I told you, I like this part of town, now come on!" He urged me. He tried to grab my hand but I stepped back from him.

"Andy, this is an abandoned construction site." I pointed out. This was really beginning to become scary.

"It's a very nice construction site?" He offered, phrasing it like a question. His expression became serious. "Look Audrey, we have to get out of here."

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" I insisted, stamping my foot like a little kid throwing a tantrum.

"Look, I can't-" He cuts himself off and there's a fear in his eyes that keeps me shut up as well. I could hear the faint sound of two boys about our age whispering to each other.

"Are you sure he's here?" One boy whispered.

"Of course I'm sure! Do I look like a half-wit to you?" Another whispered harshly. "I just saw him duck in here with his girlfriend." I heard a few boys snickering quietly, then a few thumping sounds.

"Ow!' A different boy whined in complaint. "What'd you do that for Zeke?"

"This isn't the time to act like a bunch of five year olds. Cade has to be caught!" _Hey wait a second! Isn't that- _Well, I never got to sort out who this Zeke guy sounded like because just then, Andy grabbed my arm and we ducked behind a partly built wall.

"Andy-" He cut me off by clamping his hand over my mouth. I pulled it off, glared at him, and started again. "What-" He slapped both hands over my mouth this time, but the damage was done.

"Sh! Did you guys here that?" The voice which I believed belonged to Zeke asked. We heard a few yes's, then the creepiest chuckle I've heard in my life. "Oh Ethan!" He called. "Come out come out wherever you are!" I looked to Andy in confusion, but he shook his head and held a finger to his lips. "We're not gonna hurt you buddy! We just want to have a nice chat." Andy snorted quietly at this, so I figured he knew not to trust these guys. I just didn't understand why.

"Come on out Ethan!" Another voice called. I pulled Andy's hand off of my mouth again.

"Andy, why do they keep calling you Ethan?" I ask.

"Not now Audrey." He shushed me.

"Ethan, do you really want to do this? We can wait out here all night. We've been through this before, you know that. But do you really want to get Audrey involved?" This time, Andy seemed to consider what they were saying, but instead of moving, he kept whispering to himself, ''they're bluffing, they wouldn't get her involved, they're bluffing." It was really weird. "Fine then. Have it your way Cade." This was followed by a clicking sound and then a gunshot. Then the gunshot was followed by another, and another, and another, each time coming faster and faster, the time in between shorter and shorter. There was obviously more than one person firing now, but they weren't all firing in the same direction. It seemed like they were going to keep shooting in all different directions until they hit one of us. Andy kept cursing under his breath.

"This is not good," he muttered. He looked at me, then peeked over the edge of the wall. When he looked back down, it seemed like he'd made a decision. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. This sent a new wave of alarm shooting through me.

"Why do you have a gun?" I said in a near shriek. Luckily, the boys hadn't heard me over the gunfire. He shrugged.

"In case of emergencies." Then he crouched with his head just above the top of the wall and fired at the large group of shooters. Judging by the immediate cry of pain, I'd say he was a pretty good shot too. The firing ceased for a moment, and instead of the concern for their friend that any normal group of people would show, I heard laughter.

"Bad move Ethan. Now we know exactly where to find you." The firing picked back up again and Andy just kept shooting back at them, not thrown at all by the fact that any minute now, someone from the group was going to come and shoot us. After he'd shot down about five of the ten of eleven boys (in the leg, nothing fatal), he grabbed my arm and tugged me up.

"Come on!" He urged me. He pulled me along by my arm, occasionally ducking behind walls and shooting behind us. I kept hearing them calling after us for some kid whose name I didn't recognize, but I had no idea who they were talking about. I guess my common sense was kind of lacking at the moment due to the shock of being shot at. Eventually, the boys were all trailing behind, all except one. He kept getting closer and yelling after us. Now, with both his face in sight and his voice, I realized who this mysterious Zeke guy was. He was Abby's boyfriend, Jackson Gale. He finally caught up to us and grabbed me by the arm. Then he held the gun to my head.

"What are you going to do now, huh Ethan? What's your master plan to get out of this?" Andy didn't answer, just stared at us with his face screwed up in concentration. I could tell he was thinking that there had to be some way to get away, but he just couldn't quite figure it out. Jackson or Zeke or whatever his name was laughed. "You don't have one do you? One of the greatest of your kind in the world, and you've got nothing. Amazing how far you've fallen." Andy glared.

"I _have not _fallen Mitchell. I will always be one step ahead of you." He said, with a slight laugh. "Has it really taken you this long to figure that out?" What's his face gave him a weird look.

"What are you up to Cade?" He asked, spitting the name like it was a disease. Andy just smirked and didn't reply. "I said, what are you-" He was cut off the sound of a gunshot. He cried out in pain and the gun fell from his hand and clattered to the ground. He stumbled back, clutching his hand and staring at it in shock. Behind him stood Stuart Hill, Andy's cousin, with a smoking gun in his hand. Looking from the gun, to the injured boy, to Andy, it seemed he couldn't believe what he'd just done.

"Stuart," Andy said slowly, as though speaking to a small child, "run. Now." Stuart didn't hesitate to do as Andy told him, taking off in the opposite direction. I noticed Jackson/Zeke looking at the gun, and before he could lunge for it, I reached down and pulled it out of his reach, then pointed it at him.

"Go." I commanded. "Go now or I swear to god I'll blow your brains out," I said, speaking mostly out of fear. Like I'd actually ever shoot him, if I could ever even figure out how this gun worked. He looked up at me and smiled like I was his best friend in the world.

"Audrey, you wouldn't do that. I'm Jackson, remember? I'm your buddy, Abby's boyfriend." He said soothingly.

"No buddy of mine would hold a gun to my head. And I don't care who you are, I want you out of my sight right now or I will shoot." He assessed my face, trying to detect any sign of a lie in it. Luckily, he hadn't known me long enough to recognize when I was lying, and backed away, then took off running towards the rest of his gang. Andy looked at me, then held his hand out for the gun, which I was all too happy to hand to him. Then he put his arm around me and rushed me in the opposite direction, towards a railroad track.

"Audrey, I need you to do something." I nodded, willing to do anything to get out of this situation and pretend it had never happened. "When the next freight train comes along, I'm going to grab your hand and we're going to jump into one of the boxcars." He was speaking in that same little kid voice he'd used when talking to Stuart, trying to keep me calm. It didn't work.

"No way!" I shrieked. "We'd get killed doing that!"

"We could've gotten killed back there too. Did we?" I shook my head. "No. We got out of there just fine. Now I'm going to need you to trust me and keep the same level head you had a few minutes ago. Can you do that for me?" I nodded weakly. He smiled reassuringly at me. "It's all going to be okay Audrey, I promise." It wasn't long after that before a freight train came along, and Andy grabbed my hand, put his arm around me again, and we both jumped. As for getting into the boxcar itself, he did most of that work for me. Once we were in, he slid the door shut and crashed to the ground on his back, his hand on his stomach and sighing in relief. "Phew! Glad that's over!" I glared at him through the darkness.

"You're glad that's over huh? At least you knew what you were doing? What was going on back there?" I asked in exasperation. He sighed and sat up.

"It's better for everyone if you don't know." He said.

"You can't just keep me in the dark, you have to tell me! Andy, what's going on?" My anger was gone, and now I just sounded scared. He sighed again.

"Well, if I'm going to tell you anything, which I won't just yet, you might as well stop calling me Andy." He said, sounding extremely reluctant to tell me even this much. "My name's Ethan Cade, and I'm an A3."

**Ooooh, I wonder what this mysterious A3 could be! And why would Ethan lie about his name as well as Zeke lying about his? Very strange. And what was Stuart doing there and why did he think to shoot Zeke in the hand? All very good questions. Please review with any more good questions or theories about the answers to these questions.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiya! I know it's been a while since I updated but I've written a nice long chapter and you no longer have to wait in suspense wondering what the heck and A3 is. All your questions will be answered here an now, so get ready peeps!**

"Oh," I said simply, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. "An A3. Is that all?" I sat down, leaning back against the side of the car. "Quick question, what exactly is an A3?" Ethan looked a little hesitant to answer the question, but he did.

"Assassin, third class. A3 for short," he replied. I bolted upright, scooching away from him a little.

"You're a WHAT?" I exclaimed.

"An assassin," he repeated, chuckling uncomfortably. "It's no big deal really. It's not like I'm first class. Zeke is. But nope, one stupid mistake and I'm dropped to the lowest class," he continued bitterly. "But don't worry. You're not in any danger, from me anyway. I'm not a murderer exactly, the guys I assassinate are usually bad guys."

"_Usually?" _

"It's not exactly easy on the wallet having to travel all the time and wait around for one agency or another to need somebody dead who they can't nab themselves. There have been a few occasions where I've had to compromise my moral values."

"That's despicable," I told him, glaring at him. He hung his head back.

"I know! And I'm getting the karma for it, because I got myself stuck in Elm Springs, in hiding from just about every enemy I've got, which is every agency, organization, free lance spy and assassin out there except my sister! And you know what, it really sucks having to work with your sister!" He rambled. "They've all wanted me out of the picture for a while, I've traded sides too often and I'm too dangerous, and now they all know who I am and how to find me."

"How do they know how to find you?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"Zeke Mitchell, the guy we saw back there. He's had it out for me since we were kids. You see, they start training assassins early so our consciences don't get in the way too often, and Zeke never liked me. We were always competitive, and that's pretty dangerous all things considered. He's been after me since he achieved A1 ranking."

"What's the difference between the classes?" I asked, trying to be calm.

"A3 is basically the lowest of the low. We're used for easy missions that they don't want to hire A2s and A1s for because they charge more. A2s are kind of in between, pretty good at what they do, but not always the most reliable suckers. The last are the A1s, the most ruthless killers in the business. They usually stick to one side or the other, but they're unpredictable, and often they work for both just for the extra cash. The benefit of making A1 is that you don't just need assignments to take people down. You can get any one of your enemies and you can't be punished for it as long as they're an agent or an assassin. I've been A1 since I was 13, making me the youngest person ever to achieve that ranking by two months. Of course, I blew it a few months back and now I'm pretty much screwed."

"Why?" I asked. "What'd you do?"

"I got sloppy!" He yelled in exhasperation. "I was too cocky and I wasn't careful enough. Someone saw me doing a job, and did a pretty impressive job of describing me to the agency they worked for. Soon enough, they all knew who I was, I dropped two ranks, and they all sent their best men after me. My sister Ella sent me off to our cousins spewing some story about witness protection. She messed around with my birth certificate, changed some details on my records, and got me into your high school. Gotta say though, I liked this time through better than the first," he admitted, smiling a little for the first time in hours.

"You've already been through high school?" I said in shock. Sure, he looked a little older, seventeen maybe, but not much more. He nodded.

"I'm turning nineteen in a few months." I let out an impressed whistle in spite of myself. "It wasn't hard to make myself pass for your age, just had to shave a little more often, add a few fake zits every once in a while. Not a big deal, I've had worse."

"So, let me get a few facts straight. You're name is Ethan Carter, my sister's so called boyfriend is really named Zeke Mitchell, and you're a nineteen year old pretending to be sixteen-"

"And a half," he added. I barely kept from rolling my eyes.

"_And a half. _Have I got it all right so far?" He nodded. "In addition to that, you're an assassin, formerly one of the best in the world, but you had a major screw up and now every bad guy on the planet wants your head on a plate?" He nodded again. "And somehow I got dragged into all this because for a highly trained assassin, you are god awful at keeping your identity a secret?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say _that, _but you've got the idea." We sat silently for a while after that, Ethan looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Look Audrey, I'm really sorry that you got dragged into the middle of this. I swear I didn't-"

"You know what, I really don't care. I don't want to talk right now," I said, taking out some of my bitterness at the situation out on him. "Please, if you don't mind, I'd like to just get my thoughts together." He nodded.

"I understand." Once again, there wasn't a single sound but the ones coming from the wheels on the track. It would've be comfortable silence I guess, if it hadn't been for the fact that I knew I was in the presence of a criminal, an assassin, a murderer. Someone who had probably killed dozens of people, people with family and friends. A killer who I had trusted, and even liked enough to date. Brief moments of anger filled my head, but for the most part it was fear. His job was to get rid of people who knew too much. How much was too much? How long until I became a problem? It would be so easy for him, there was no one around, it was night, by now the train was most likely in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't anywhere near strong enough to be able to protect myself. It would've been so easy...too easy. Just one more life. I shivered at the thought.

Despite my fear, I worked up the courage to look up at Ethan. He was slouched against the wall, his arms resting on his knees, staring out the narrow opening in the door. For a moment, he looked innocent, like someone incapable of hurting another person, like Andy. For a moment, I wondered if maybe any part of him was like the boy he pretended to be. But then he looked up, and I noticed something in his eyes that before I'd taken as just mischeviousness. It didn't have a name, but I knew now that it wasn't anywhere near the look of a troublemaker I'd thought it was. I looked away.

"Sorry, I have to make a call," he said, disrupting the eerie quiet. "You can try and sleep if you want. We might be here for a while." I curled up on the ground with my back to him, but I couldn't close my eyes. _Too easy. Just one more life. _Those same thoughts had bounced around in my head since he told me what he was. As I pretended to sleep, I could hear him talking quietly into his phone. Paying close attention, I could pick up a few words, phrases, every now and then a sentence, just enough to figure out who he was calling and what he was calling about. "Ella? Hey it's me...Zeke, he found me...no Ell, I'm fine, but we've got a problem." A problem. Me. My fate rested on the decision of Ethan's older sister. I hoped desperately that, as a spy, she would find a more favorable solution than the one I feared Ethan would think of. "I don't know what to do. This just keeps getting worse!" At that moment, he doesn't sound as much like he did when he was talking to Zeke, or when he was explaining things to me. He'd sounded harsh, even when he was trying to be nice, because he wasn't Andy anymore. In the hour or so that I'd really known him, I learned quickly that Ethan is quite unfamiliar with nice. But now he sounded like an actual teenager in a bad situation, scared and wanting desperately for his sister to bail him out. I never got to hear the rest of the conversation, because at that moment, I somehow managed to sleep.

**So, what'd you think? Audrey has good reason to be scared right? What do you think Ethan and Ella will decide to do with her? How do you think she'll handle all these problems coming her way? Tell me, review people, I needs reviews!**


End file.
